First resto, Carlton International.

Hi all,

Just taken the plunge and bought myself a retro bike. Its nothing special but its a start. I bought it today from the original owner, A 1971 Carlton International. I was looking for a 10 speed but at £20 quid i couldn't not buy it. I like the colour scheme, Its got a battered broooks saddle, which is good. I also love the front mounted bottle holder.

I know its not worth a fortune and never will be so im not going to throw loads of money at it. The plan is to clean it all up get it in working condition, ride it and see how i feel about it when its done. First thing was to take off the horrible plastic mudguards pump up the tyres and go for a spin.

Just up the road and back, and only one gear available but it does ride. The brakes were surprisingly good, after my modern bike i expected them to be quite poor.

I dont know much about Carlton bikes so any info gratefully received.

Time for some pics while i start the strip down.

Just needs some loving that one. I look forward to seeing it restored.

Nice one there, I would have guessed older than 1971 but I guess the original owner should know. Have fun and keep it as original as possible.

Nice,

Paint doesn't look too bad.

You'll be surprised how well it will clean up with some tin foil and WD40 or water, Autosol, wire wool and maybe some wet and dry.

That will look amazing once a bit of elbow grease has been applied. Love the paint scheme. Very nice bike!

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That’s twenty quid well spent! As others have said, your major investment will be in elbow grease, and that should come up a treat, even the saddle will improve with a bit of TLC. It may need new tyres and cables perhaps but that really looks too be in pretty good nick overall. I can’t help thinking that I have a Carlton shaped hole in my life…

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Thanks for the replies, I have just stripped the bike, well apart from the drive side crank, the cotter is well stuck. Apart from that it came apart no problem, the stem and seat post were nicely greased. The rims have very little rust and should clean up easily. On closer inspection the paint has been touched up quite roughly with a brush in places.

If i can get the bits that should be shiny gleaming again i will be happy, new cables and bar tape are a given. I think the rear mech has a part missing, there is a looped spring that provides the tension but i cant see where the loop should go.

The guy i bought it from says it cost him £73 when new, he was 16 at the time and had just started work. He said he had done many happy miles on it, but it hadn't moved in over 20 years.

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Top Ghia":b76pu7iw said:

Thanks for the replies, I have just stripped the bike, well apart from the drive side crank, the cotter is well stuck. Apart from that it came apart no problem, the stem and seat post were nicely greased. The rims have very little rust and should clean up easily. On closer inspection the paint has been touched up quite roughly with a brush in places.

If i can get the bits that should be shiny gleaming again i will be happy, new cables and bar tape are a given. I think the rear mech has a part missing, there is a looped spring that provides the tension but i cant see where the loop should go.

The guy i bought it from says it cost him £73 when new, he was 16 at the time and had just started work. He said he had done many happy miles on it, but it hadn't moved in over 20 years.

Click to expand...

The lateral movement spring just needs pushing back behind the grooved pin on the main mech body. As the gents have said here, plenty of elbow grease and hard work will pay dividends here, its not a high end machine but the paint job makes it very distinctive. A real bargain for £20.

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Thanks for that, I knew the loop would not fit over the pin but didnt think of tucking it behind. I like cheap fixes.

Yes the paint scheme is eye catching even if the spec list isn't.

loving that, what a bargain!